Spring Coiling Machines for Spring Making and Wire Forming

First, let’s talk about the spring coiling machines that are most popularly used for torsion springs. Keep in mind that just about any of these machines can also be used to make wire forms. It may not be the best or most efficient way to do it, but the ability is there.

TORSION WINDERS

Now, to get back to torsion springs. If it is high volume and speed that is needed, most spring makers will use a torsion winder

There are still many mechanical versions of this machine in use. Though, nowadays there is, of course, a CNC version. These machines wind the wire around an arbor. The feed system, normally what is called a grip type, will feed the wire into a catch on the arbor. The winding of the arbor pulls the wire. If there is forming to be done on the front or back legs of the spring the process would be:

1. the feed system will feed the wire out
2. the tools will make the bends
3. then the arbor will grab the wire and pull it to form the body coils
4. the tools will make the bends on the back leg and cut the wire

RADIAL FORMERS

Probably the most popular type machine for torsion springs is the radial type multi slide formers. I would venture to say there are more varieties of these style spring coiling machines on the market than any other type machine. These machines can range from 2 axis up to at least 16 axis.

These machines normally have a series of 8 slides in a radial configuration around a central tool called a quill. The wire is fed from behind the machine through the quill and out the face of the machine. With CNC wire feed the machine can be told to start and stop the feed, speed up and slow down the feed, as needed. This is advantageous in forming complicated parts. The technician can have the machine slow down on tight tolerance difficult to form bends and speed up on the body coils.

The forming of the part is done with the slides. The actual bending is done either by the slide bending the wire over the quill, or by bending over another slide. If the machine has a rotating quill option then forming can also be done by using the quill to put pitch in a part or other bends in conjunction with the slides.

There are also options that are available on many of these radial formers such as servo spinners which provide additional ways to form the part.
There are also machines which have a 2 dimensional slide movement, in/out and left/right.

Many of these type spring coiling machines offer a rotating wire feature where the entire feed system rotates. This gives the technician the ability to turn the part to the tools. Some of the benefits this offers are the following-

1. you can use the same slide to make many bends at different angles
2. you don’t have to move slides on the machine to position them correctly for bending. Instead, you can move the part by rotating the wire.
3. sometimes the part can get in the way of a slide. Rotating the wire can alleviate this.
4. you can rotate and bend at the same time. This allows for some creative forming by the technician.

These spring coiling machines are extremely versatile. This is one of the reasons for their popularity. This video shows some of the many different type products they can make:The radial type former is much easier to set up than a torsion winder. The features these spring coiling machines offer allow for a less tooling intensive setup strategy compared to the torsion winder. Let’s look at the benefits provided by going beyond the basic two axis machine.

1. 2 axis machine: wire feed, cam rotation
   • Controls timing between wire feed and cam rotation
   • Timing between slide movements is reliant on use of cams
2. Additional axis of rotating quill, rotating wire, secondary hook station
   • Allow for ease of additional forming operations without using complicated tooling
3. 10 axis and beyond adding full servo slide feature
   • Adding full servo feature for slide movement eliminates cam timing
   • Combinations of slide movements becomes nearly unlimited. It is not tied down to 360 degree rotation.
   • All timing controlled by the computer. The technician can walk through creating the part with the computer and save the setup.
   • This is a quick way to get the initial program into the machine. The technician then needs to tweak the setup only as needed.

3 DIMENSIONAL WIRE BENDER

What gives the machine the 3 dimensional ability? The entire bending area rotates around the wire. These machines only have the ability to perform one bend at a time. If you compare production speeds to a radial type former you would find that small parts, where part deflection is not a consideration, would run faster on a radial former. As the parts get larger, where there would be considerable part deflection while forming, the speeds would be about the same.

Setup is very simple compared to the previously discussed machines. Look at this video here and you can see the tooling is very simple.So what are the advantages of a 3 Dimensional Bender?

1. Very easy to set up
   • Few tools needed
   • Tooling is very basic, not complicated
2. Easy programming
3. When you get into the larger wire ranges, 6 to 8mm and above, these machines are normally less expensive than the radial type formers.

Welding units are sometimes used in conjunction with these machines. This is especially true when they are used for making frames. The part is formed, transferred into the welding unit, and the ends are welded together.Press units can be installed in line, drill units, etc. The list is endless.

If you are considering equipment to make only wire forms this should be your choice. If you are looking for the versatility to make springs and wire forms then the radial type spring coiling machines would be the choice.

The best thing to do is to talk to your local machine supplier. You can go here, Machine Suppliers Worldwide, to see our list of machine suppliers to the spring making and wire forming industry. Find one close to you. Tell them what type of parts you need equipment for and they will show you the latest technology available.

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